Upton still faces arrows from right

Rep. Fred Upton can’t seem to win no matter how much he contorts himself.

After making a hard right turn to secure the Energy and Commerce Committee gavel and lead the fight against President Barack Obama's health care and energy policies, conservatives in Washington and southwestern Michigan are still thinking about getting rid of him.

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The Club for Growth is airing an ad in his district for a second week slamming the "liberal Fred Upton," an early warning-shot from the anti-tax group.

Tea party types are also wrestling with voting out Upton. While he has amassed considerable power in Congress over 13 terms, they question his penchant for compromise and bipartisanship.

"Fred's theory in the past is if you go across the aisle you get something done," said Gene Clem, president of the Southwest Michigan Tea Party Patriots. "A lot of conservatives say that's got us where we are right now. We want people to push for 100 percent of what we want. That seems to be what he's doing right now. But that's not Fred's persona."

It's a stance that could backfire. Other conservatives in Upton's district recognize the power he wields as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. They see someone who can be a strong ally for their causes, but only first if he's nudged in that direction.

"He's got the message,” said Gene Curnow, a member of the Southwest Michigan Tea Party Patriots who leads a small committee that keeps in regular touch with Upton staffers.

David Malone, the PAC director for the conservative Right to Life of Michigan, knocks Upton for a years-old set of votes that he said would have loosened restriction on abortions and boosted federal funding for stem cell research. In past elections, Upton has failed to secure an endorsement from Malone’s chapter. In 2010, it backed primary challenger Jack Hoogendyk. This time, it's still undecided.

“From what I’ve seen, it seems that he’s coming more to the right — at least on our issues,” Malone said of Upton. “But I don’t know if he’s fully with us yet.”

Mike Franc, vice president of government studies at the Heritage Foundation, noted Upton's panel has tried at least a half-dozen times to scrap the new health care law, or at least chip away at it until it collapses. “The Energy and Commerce Committee, from a conservative standpoint, has been one of the most active and accomplished on the Hill," he said.

Upton survived a bitter campaign just over a year ago to win the Energy and Commerce Committee gavel — overcoming negative attacks from Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, as well as a "Down with Upton" online petition organized by former Majority Leader Dick Armey's tea party-affiliated group Freedom Works.